


Stay With Me

by Goodnightsammy



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Rey Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:02:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23530534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goodnightsammy/pseuds/Goodnightsammy
Summary: Prompt from anonymous on Tumblr: After surviving Exegol, how can two broken people find their Happily Ever After?Or: Rey has a bad dream.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48





	Stay With Me

It was dark here—like the cave on Ahch-To—a darkness that felt like it would swallow Rey whole into its cold depths and never release here. The wide expanse before her held nothing, not even her own mass, as it seemed even her body was fading away beneath her. She watched her hands turn to mist like those early mornings training, looking out over the churning sea with that feeling in her gut that _yes, she could save the galaxy._ But here—here it was just cold. Fear gripped her in its spiny fingers and she turned to see the rotting face of _him,_ of that _monster_ of a grandfather and—

Rey woke from her nightmare to the muffled sounds of Ben stumbling down the hall. His large body turned the corner and the doorframe creaked hard as he shifted his weight against it, gazing at here, eyes ablaze.

“Are you alright?” He asked, breathing heavy.

Rey nodded, shadowed in her bed. They hadn’t talked much, not about anything, not after Exegol. Rey had vouched for Ben the best she could when they finally made it back, banged up and bruised, to the Resistance base. But Rey had friends here, had a _place_ here, or she used to, even if she didn’t know it at the time. Ben faded to the back of her mind as she tried to help Finn and Poe rebuild the mess they called the galaxy. That’s what Rey told herself, anyways. In truth, as long as she knew he was safe, she would rather not be reminded about what had happened to her—what it had felt like when—

Ben shifted his weight from one foot to the next, unsure. This was usually the point he would turn and go. They had done this dance plenty of times in the weeks that followed the final battle. One of them would wake up in a cold sweat, and the other would be there, but the comfort rarely went beyond the customary check-in. This time, when it was time to leave, Ben hesitated.

“Can I,” he started, smooth voice hushed against the night, “can I join you?”

Rey thought for a moment, before sliding over to the edge of the bed, making room.

Ben sat down beside her, the frame creaking under his weight, “I’m sorry,” he breathed.

“What for?” Rey asked, the question hollow. She knew that there was no way he could account for all of it—all the things that made her ache inside at night, all the things she wished had never happened, all the things she wished would just go away.

“You know,” he mumbled. It was the only real answer he could offer her, and she understood. “After Exegol,” Ben began again, suddenly interested in the lines of his palms, “well it hasn’t been the same, has it?”

“Could it ever be?” Rey responded, and silence stretched between them, knitting together the fibers of space like a quilt of all the things they ever wanted to say to each other, but never could.

“No, probably not,” Ben admitted. He sat there for another couple seconds before standing up again. “Get some sleep,” he offered.

Rey felt bad, then. Felt crappy as ever as she looked at the defeated slope in his shoulders and the dark bags under his eyes. He had only wanted to help, and she had just brushed him away. As he turned, her hand shot out and caught his wrist.

“Please,” she whispered in a puff of air, “please, just stay a little longer.”

Ben smiled softly at her and settled back into his place.

“I can’t stop thinking about what it felt like—” Rey confessed, “to die. You know, you’ve probably seen it rattling around in my head.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said.

“I had never been so alone—it was worse. Worse than that night on Ahch-To. Worse than being abandoned on Jakku. I was nothing. There was nothing,” Rey rambled, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

“ _I_ was there, Rey,” Ben declared, voice firm and even, “I wasn’t going to leave you. I not going to, ever.”

“I know,” she hiccupped, letting the tears fall freely, “I know, I know.”

Ben pulled her up into his arms then, sudden and awkward. He didn’t know what to do, how to make her pain go away, but he could do this. Rey curled up against his chest, small and shaking.

“We’re not broken, Rey,” he sighed, squeezing her against himself tightly, “we’re not, just a little scuffed up around the edges.”

When Rey woke up in the morning, Ben was fast asleep at her side, breathing softly. Rey inhaled deeply the smell of metal and trees on her sheets, and drifted back into dreaming.


End file.
